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STREP - Specific Targeted Research Project

Cel

The main aim of the ECOST project is to develop a new approach to assess the societal cost of fishing activities to the ecosystem. By societal cost we mean all costs linked to fishing activities: this may be ecological (alteration of the capacity of a system), economic (all costs linked to production, management, subsidies, and external factors), social (linked to choices made in public policy, food safety, provision for national or international markets, the eradication of poverty, and to development models (small scale fishing versus industrial fishing)). The geographical dimension of the work is spread over 3 continents (3 countries for each continent) which are characterized respectively by ecosystems of coastal upwelling (West Africa), delta (South East Asia) and coral reef (Caribbean) Within each region/ecosystem (eco-region) several fisheries have been selected as representative of global fishing activities. Furthermore, a marine protected area will be chosen in order to establish comparative analysis within the said eco-region, and to serve as a reference point The programme is organised into 12 work plans (WP), each one is sanctioned by the delivery of a product which marks a stage in the development process of the evaluation method for the impact made by fishing activities. The common ground for the complete work plan is the development of a method for a greater and more complete understanding of the ecological, economic and social incidence of fishing activities on the various eco-regions.